Lemon, Polenta, and Olive Oil Cake

Last year, I made Dorie Greenspan's Simple Almond Cake for the first time. I chose to make it for several reasons: number one, I'm a sucker for cake and if it's plain and simple, then I'm really all over it, and number two, the recipe is naturally gluten- and dairy-free. While I don't have any food allergies or intolerances, I'm always appreciative of gluten- and dairy-free desserts that don't call for obscure ingredients, because my mom does have to watch what she eats. Dorie's cake is made with just almonds, sugar, eggs, and a touch of vanilla, and it's incredible. It's become a household favorite, and it never fails to make an appearance on the dessert table at family gatherings and holidays. I've made it so many times now, that I've actually grown a bit restless by it. I love it, but I don't really want to make it again and again anymore, you know?

So this year, I set out to find a new gluten and dairy-free dessert that my mom and I would love enough to make over and over again–at least until next year!–and I think I found it. I came across a recipe for a Lemon Polenta Cake from the lovely Nigella Lawson, and the second I saw that it was made with just almonds and polenta, I knew it was almost perfect. She uses butter in her recipe, and while my mom does ok with dairy in baked goods, I really wanted to make her something that was completely delicious and also had no chance of causing any unwanted reactions. I decided to experiment and made the recipe with olive oil instead of butter. If you've never baked with olive oil before (I agree, it sounds a little strange at first!), I definitely recommend it.  Olive oil has a wonderful fruity taste to it that complements baked treats so nicely, and even better, it keeps everything you bake moist for days. And that was exactly what I wanted in this cake recipe. I wanted it to be the type of cake my mom could place on her kitchen counter and periodically come back to and snack on over the course of a few days, without the cake becoming dry in the process.

Chocolate Pistachio Loaf Cake

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! I think I'm just starting to recover from my food coma, but that intense feeling of fullness was completely worth it. This year, my family celebrated the holiday with my boyfriend's family for the first time, which seemed fitting given that we moved in together literally four days before. Our families joined forces and created an amazing Thanksgiving meal with an Italian flair. We started with prosciutto and melon and caprese salad, followed by an enormous plate of the best lasagna in the world, and then all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings were served. After downing a plate piled high with turkey, stuffing, two types of cranberry sauce, two potato dishes, several types of salad, stuffed mushrooms, and an assortment of freshly baked rolls and cornbread, it was time for dessert. I went a bit overboard and ended up bringing Gluten-Free Brownies, pumpkin pie, a Simple Almond Cake, Linzer Cookies, and the prettiest Apple Pie I've ever made. Tiramisu and roasted chestnuts rounded out the meal and by the time I realized how full I was, I was in no condition to do anything except pass out on the couch...basically, I did Thanksgiving proud.

While I love Thanksgiving, I'm happy the holiday is over. One down, two more to go! The holidays are my favorite time of the year, but I'm really looking to just get back to a more normal schedule. Between getting ready for the move to Astoria, the actual move, setting up the apartment, work, and Thanksgiving, I've had an incredibly busy November. It flew by and i can't believe that I'm sharing a recipe I made in the last week of October in December. I've worked on this post in bits and pieces over the last few weeks--typing up the recipe one night, selecting photos the next, editing them a few days later, and this entire post was pretty much written on the subway ride to and from work. 

I do see an "end" to all this craziness coming soon though. The apartment is in amazing shape, and C. and I are getting used to what is now the new normal. We'd been planning on living together since we graduated from college two years ago, and even though we've spent so much time together over the last six years, being able to say that we actually live together still feels very surreal to me. I'm sure it will feel that way for a while, but it's nice that we're slowly settling into a routine and figuring out how this whole cohabitation thing works. It's been an exciting and busy time, and as much as I'm ready to just have my regular routine all figured out, I couldn't be happier about the way things are unfolding.

Tiny Chocolate Cake (GF)

Hello! I'm here! I haven't disappeared.  I've just been a bit quiet and taking things easy over the past few weeks. I think I'm just in need of a break of sorts.  I'm not really even sure what I need, but having slowed down recently has been nice, I'll admit.  I've been taking some time to think about this space I've carved myself online, and reflect on how I've spent the last four years (almost) of my life.  The time really just flew by, and it's amazing to me how quickly it's gone.  Over 300 posts, more photographs (both good and bad) than I would ever want to count, and so much time have gone into this.  Creating content on such a regular basis and maintaining a site has been more work than I could have ever imagined, but it's been incredibly rewarding at the same time.  Despite that, I'm starting to drive myself crazy. 

Buttermilk Waffles (Gluten-Free)

I have a special place in my heart (stomach) for waffles.  I grew up with the frozen kind; I had two for breakfast everyday, all the way up through high school.  I never tired of having the same breakfast, and while I eventually switched up my routine in college, there were a few moments where I caved and bought myself a box, for old time's sakes. At restaurants, if an ice cream-topped waffle is on the dessert menu, it's the obvious choice to finish off my meal. A special breakfast out calls for a waffle.  Basically, I'm crazy for them.  I don't make them all that often though, and it's mostly out of laziness (I'm not a fan of standing over a hot iron making one waffle at a time).  However, when the mood strikes, I just have to make myself a batch at home.  There's nothing like a freshly made waffle. 

Simple Almond Cake (GF)

Here's a fact that I’m slightly embarrassed to admit: I never actually took the time to really read through Dorie Greenspan’s newest book, Baking Chez Moi. I’ve had it for months sitting on my shelf, and while I made a batch of rugelach using her recipe, I just never got around/made the time to peruse through its contents.  A fact that I’m even MORE embarrassed to admit is that this is my ONLY Dorie cookbook.  Seriously.  I know she’s a goddess when it comes to flour and chocolate and sugar in the kitchen, and yet the only thing I’ve ever baked using her wisdom are her rugelach (which, by the way, are the best rugelach I’ve ever tried). This past weekend though, in searching for a new “thing” to bake, I picked up my brand new, hardly used copy of Baking Chez Moi, and became aware of this incredible resource that I had been neglecting for all these months.  There were so many recipes that I wanted to try, and she even has an entire chapter dedicated to simple cakes! It’s easy to say that this was the chapter that inspired me the most, and while I had a hard time selecting my first cake to bake, in the end, the choice was pretty clear. “Plain and Simple Almond Cake.” Can’t argue with a title like that, now can you?

As much as “plain and simple” grabbed me, my real reason for choosing it over her TK cake with salted dark chocolate chunks is that it’s a flourless cake.  Made only with almond flour, eggs, sugar, and vanilla this cake is not only completely gluten-free, but it’s also dairy-free. My mom has been completely gluten-free for about 6 months now, and the changes in her health and well-being have been remarkable. She’s less tired, has very minimal stomach discomfort, and fewer headaches. She’s eliminated almost all dairy from her diet as well, save for when it’s baked into a gluten-free treat, and while she hasn’t completely given up on dairy, limiting it to the extent she has has also had a positive effect on her health.  She’ll sometimes experience some slight discomfort, but not enough to keep her away from her favorite gluten-free cornbread, for instance.  When I realized that his cake was free of gluten and dairy, I just had to make it. I really hate leaving my mom out of the loop when it comes to the treats I bake at home, so I try to bake gluten-free versions as much as possible.  Getting used to working with new flours, blends, and techniques has been a ton of fun (and work!), but sometimes I just want to be able to prepare a GF treat to share with everyone in my family that’s made with regular old ingredients that I have on hand. Something that feels a little more familiar, and that’s why this simple cake seemed so attractive (aside from the fact that my mom and I both happen to love almonds!).

Chocolate Panna Cotta

My obsession with panna cotta has been well documented here. It all started a few years ago when my cousin Angie shared this delectable panna cotta with a simple strawberry sauce. I never thought I could love a dessert without a trace of chocolate as much as I loved that panna cotta. It was just divine! Since then, I've expanded my panna cotta repertoire to include both buttermilk and Greek yogurt versions, and while I love both of those, the original cream and milk only version is still my favorite. Luscious and smooth, it's truly something special.

While I had ventured out of the traditional panna cotta realm before, I never strayed far from the same basic sweet cream flavor. Sure, some versions added a hint of tang, but essentially, it was a similar flavor profile. I hadn't thought about making a chocolate version until recently, and I thought that would be a good place to begin experimenting. I envisioned a super smooth and velvety chocolate treat that was just rich enough to save for special occasions, but not enough that you'd want to skimp out on your share!

Gluten Free Blueberry Pancakes

Pancakes are among my favorite ways to start off my weekends.  There's really nothing much better than quickly mixing up a bowl of pancake batter, ladling it onto a hot griddle, and watching it transform into a fluffy and tasty breakfast treat. I've become a bit of a pancake snob in recent years, thanks to my sister, who's without a doubt a bigger pancake obsessed person than I am.  Pancakes from a box are a big no-no.  In my opinion, there's no reason to ever make pancakes from a box, given that they're completely effortless to make from scratch (and they also taste way, way better).  Seriously, I have yet to taste a Bisquick pancake that's as fluffy and tangy as my favorite homemade buttermilk pancakes. 


And then my mom went gluten-free, and suddenly, I was in a predicament.  My mom usually isn't much of a big breakfast person, as she tends to be happy with just coffee and toast, but she does love pancakes.  Blueberry pancakes, especially.  I couldn't very well make my own homemade pancakes to enjoy on the weekend to have my mom watch on without any pancakes on her plate (because what kind of person denies their mother of buttermilk pancakes, right?), so I had to figure out how to make the perfect batch of gluten free pancakes that could hold their own next to my traditional favorites.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

If I had to eliminate gluten from my diet, I think I would miss my mom’s famous chocolate cake the most out of everything.  It’s intensely chocolatey and is brushed with amaretto for three days before serving, and it’s easily one of my favorite desserts of all time. Second on my list would be these brown butter chocolate chip cookies. They’re everything a chocolate chip cookie should be: crisp around the edges, thick and chewy in the center, loaded with chocolate chips, and rough and craggy on top.  While one of those cookies should be enough to satisfy me, they’re so good that I can never help but break off small pieces of cookie whenever I walk past the kitchen, and the next thing I know, I’ve ended up eating something around three entire cookies by myself…or more. They’re dangerously delicious. 

I wanted to make a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie that exactly matched my favorite traditional cookies.  They had to be thick and chewy and deliciously crisp along the outside- I was not going to compromise on any of those requirements. While browsing through recipes I was disappointed by most of the photos I saw.  The recipes may have been just fine, but none had that old-fashioned bakery look that I think is essential to a really good chocolate chip cookies. It was frustrating, but after a little more Google-ing, I found Alton Brown’s recipe.  The photo for his cookies was the closest in matching the perfect cookie vision I had in my head, so I figured this would be the best way to go. 

Honey and Peanut Butter Oatmeal

It's time to jump on the resolution bandwagon, and while I usually don't particularly go crazy with wanting to detox or get my butt in the gym, this year is a bit different.  Christmas cookies are my biggest weakness, and this past holiday season, I ate more than ever.  I just couldn't stop myself from eating cookie after cookie, and I'm feeling it now, for once.  We don't need to go into anymore detail than that, but it's safe to say that I'm ready to get back in my usual routine.  It's time to get back to work, back to eating square, healthy meals, and back in the gym, with the occasional treat every now and then, for the sake of my own sanity.  As ready as I am to kick this cleansing period into high gear, let's not kid ourselves.  I still have a love for all things made with butter, sugar, and chocolate, so I'm sure those less healthy indulgences will be making a comeback soon...but for now, I'll do what I can.  Healthy breakfasts are as good a place as any to start. 

I love a good bowl of oatmeal in the morning for breakfast.  Comforting and delicious, easy to prepare and full of possibilities, oatmeal is one of my go-to's whenever I want a breakfast I can feel good about eating.  One of my favorite oatmeal mix-ins is peanut butter, because a spoonful melts right into a bowl of hot oats, so you get a ton of flavor in every bite.  In college, PB+J oatmeal was in my regular breakfast rotation, and I always looked forward to making myself a bowl in the morning.  Lately though, I've really been enjoying oatmeal with peanut butter and honey.  A piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a drizzle of honey is my typical pre-workout snack, because it gives me just the energy spike I need to ensure that I perform at my best, so swapping raspberry jelly for honey in my oatmeal makes perfect sense.  Honey, peanut butter and oats are the perfect combination of ingredients to wake me up and get me ready to start my day, everyday. 

Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta

If I had to pick a non-chocolate dessert to eat for the rest of my lift (I say non-chocolate because a chocolate dessert will easily beat out any other), it would be panna cotta.  I tried panna cotta for the first time a few years back when I was helping my cousin make one for a family gathering, and I remember thinking that this was a really, really strange dessert.  I just couldn't understand how combining milk and cream and sugar could be good (clearly I hadn't attempted to make ice cream yet), and adding gelatin into the mix just seemed like a recipe for something really funky. I wasn't convinced that we had a winning dessert on our hands, but my cousin assured me that this was something special.  Needless to say, she was completely right. I hadn't tasted anything quite like it before, but my mind had been changed- cream, milk, sugar, and gelatin are a recipe for something DELISH!

I like playing with variations on the traditional panna cotta, just to see what other interesting flavors are possible.  I've made a buttermilk panna cotta that I thought was delicious, and this particular recipe for a panna cotta made with Greek yogurt is one that I've had my eye on for quite some time. I was inspired by Chobani's  #MadeWithChobani project, and I figured that with the holidays literally around the corner, now would be the perfect time to finally try out this recipe. 

Gluten-Free Honey Cornbread

Cornbread is one of those things that for some reason, I just always seem to forget about.  I have no real reason why, because I actually really love cornbread and corn muffins, and all things with corn, but they just doesn't cross my mind as often as they should. When I think of quick breads, I typically think of banana bread first, or even better, some kind of yogurt cake.  Over the weekend though, I was flipping through cookbooks deciding on what I wanted to bake (because planning ahead is overrated), and I decided to flip through my newest gluten-free bake book, Sweet Cravings, by Kyra Bussanich. I saw this gluten-free cornbread recipe and I thought to myself that it was just what I needed.  My mom also happens to love cornbread, so this was the perfect recipe to make, since she could enjoy it too!

This cornbread recipe is the first recipe I made from Sweet Cravings, but I knew that it would be a winner.  The book is written by the first gluten-free baker to win Cupcake Wars on the Food Network, so that says a lot.  I think that was really solidified my decision to go ahead and make this particular version of gluten-free cornbread was that I finally had some proof (a little, at least) that gluten-free baking really can be just as delicious as traditional baking.  I've made muffins and apple crisps, and my mom has been making Skinnytaste's banana bread every week, and all of these treats have been huge successes.  My opinions on the complexities of gluten-free baking are certainly changing, slowly but surely. 

Gluten-Free Breakfast Apple Crisp

I wish I could say that I went apple picking and picked all the apples used in this crisp myself, but that would be a lie.  A big, big lie.  It would also be a lie if I said that I loved apple picking, because I've never actually gone.  It's unfortunate, because I'm sure I would love it, and also because there are lots of great apple farms on Long Island's North Fork.  I've made it my mission to go, and hopefully I'll get to go once before the season is over.  I'm ready to wear my flannel and pick as many apples as I can, and buy a good amount of cider and homemade preserves.  I have my plans all set, and now it's just a matter of actually, you know, doing them. It'll happen.  Until it happens, though, I've gone ahead and purchased the best apples I could find over the weekend, and made some apple treats.  I had a craving for all things apple, and just because I didn't have freshly picked apples didn't mean that I would leave that craving unfulfilled. 

I wanted to start off my apple baking with something that was simple and unfussy.  I wanted pie, but it required a little bit more effort than I was feeling over the weekend.  I decided to leave apple pie on my to-do list for another weekend, and taking the warm, bubbly apple cue from the pie, I decided to make a crisp instead. Juicy, sweetened apples with a buttery and crunchy topping...that's just what I needed!

Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

I finally did it! I finally took the plunge and made something that's traditionally made with wheat flour and made a gluten-free version.  The idea of gluten-free baking always intimidated me, mostly because all the recipes I had ever seen involved a million different flours and xantham gum and other stabilizers and I don't know what else. Arrowroot powder sounded like such a foreign thing and it just weirded me out.  I'd been meaning to make gluten free desserts for a long time, in an attempt to cater to more people, but honestly, I was just too nervous about it to give it a real chance.  It seems silly now, because it's still baking and following a set of instructions, just with a different group of ingredients.  It wasn't until the need for gluten free treats hit close to home that I realized I needed to gather my courage, do my research, and do what I do best: bake.

My mom has been on a gluten free diet for just about a month now, and I still can't believe it at times.  I mean, she's the one who taught me how to bake!  It's ironic, to say the least.  In any case though, it's amazing what this new diet has done for her.  She was feeling better within days, and she'll never look back.  Since starting her new diet, my mom has been experimenting with different gluten free baked goods from the store, and while we have found some that are pretty good, we've definitely been disappointed with a lot of them.  Some of the things we've tried were way too sweet or tough, and don't even get me started on the loaves of sliced bread...now those are frightening.  Recently, she bought a couple of gluten free blueberry muffins and was not happy with them at all.  I promised my mom that blueberry muffins would be the first gluten free treat I would make. 

Chocolate Balsamic Coconut Macaroons

Today we have coconut macaroons on the blog, because who doesn't love macaroons, right?  I happen to be a really big fan of these chewy little bites, and I love them even more when they're studded with tiny chocolate chips and a touch of balsamic.  As good as that sounds, that's actually not the true reason why I made macaroons this past weekend.  The true reason I made them, is because they're gluten-free.

Now, I don't have an intolerance to gluten (thankfully), but more and more people are developing an intolerance as time goes on.  My mom seems to be one of them.  Due to other various health issues (not Celiac's), my mom has chosen to eliminate gluten (and possibly dairy) from her diet, and it's made a world of difference.  Simply eliminating foods with gluten has done wonders for my mom in just a few days, and she says she's feeling so much better now that she's avoiding bread and pasta.  Unfortunately, it also means she will have to avoid almost everything that I bake for this little blog.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Mixed Berries

It's almost here, it's almost here! It's almost the Fourth of July! With this holiday now less than a week away, it's time to whip up some delicious and summer treats in our favorite shades of red, white, and blue.  For me, red and blue mean BERRIES.  Artificially dyed treats like cupcakes and cookies dyed in unnatural shades of colors really weird me out (pastel is ok, but super bright and fluorescent is just not ok), so strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries are my way of getting my red and blue fix.  Actually, the ultimate red, white, and blue dessert for me would be a simple bowl of strawberries and blueberries topped off with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.  It's the easiest thing in the world to make and it screams summer.  

I thought that I would take a cue from my ultimate easy summer dessert as a starting point for a simple and refined approach to a Fourth of July dessert.  Berries with fresh whipped cream has turned into panna cotta with macerated berries; it sounds fancy, but it's still a really easy dessert!  In Italian, panna cotta means "cooked cream," and that's literally what this dessert is. Panna cotta is traditionally a mixture of heavy cream, milk, sugar, and gelatin that gets cooked together, poured into a mold or cup, and then left in the fridge to chill until solidified. It's a very straightforward dish, and takes very little effort and time to prepare.  Essentially, if you can prepare a batch of Jell-O, you should have no problem making panna cotta.

Mini Coconut Macaroon Tartlets

Happy Spring everyone!  The season that seemed like it was never going to arrive finally has, and it was about time.  At least, I think it has.  It might be spring on paper, technically speaking, yet I'm still wearing a coat and scarf every time I go outside, and there's supposedly snow coming today at some point.  While the weather seems to have missed the memo about the change of season, I definitely haven't.  I'm fully ready to embrace spring!  I love spring, as I'm sure most people who don't like the winter do.  It's such a refreshing change from cold dreary days.  Now that it's spring, I'm getting excited about churning out lovely spring recipes that are simple, refreshing, fluffy, light, cute, pink, tart, lemony, berry-filled, etc, etc.

For my first spring celebratory recipe, I've made a super simple dessert featuring coconut, lemon, and blackberry. This perfectly spring-inspired flavor profile all comes together in these super adorable Mini Coconut Macaroon Tartlets.  Aren't they cute?!  I took a basic coconut macaroon recipe, which happens to be one of my favorite coconut treats, and used it to create little tartlet shells, which I then filled with lemon curd and topped with a fresh blackberry.  They're simple and infinitely adaptable, which makes them a great idea for springtime get-togethers. This recipe is being featured today on the Make and Takes blog, so head on over there for the full recipe and more photos!

Chocolate Amaretto Pots de Crème

Chocolate Amaretto Pots de Crème.  This just might be the richest, most indulgent dessert I've made to date so far.  That's saying a lot, and is possibly not true.  I've made my fair share of over the top decadent desserts (like this Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart), but I feel like this is unquestionably somewhere near the top of the list of decadent desserts, if not number one.  Trust me when I say that this is one dessert that's so rich and delectable, you'll need someone to share it with.

What better occasion to share an over-the-top, rich, dreamy, intense chocolate dessert with someone than Valentine's Day?  Am I right, or am I right?  These little chocolate pots de crème are an adorable and unforgettable way to end a special Valentine's Day meal.  Then again, I'm sure that if you're an anti-Valentine's Day/Singles Awareness Day celebrator, this rich dessert would be a perfect fit for you too.  What better way to say you're single and loving life than eating making an incredible dessert and eating it too?  Whatever camp you're in, this is one dessert that you've simply got to make and experience for yourself.

Pignoli Cookies

Aaannnd we're officially an exact week from Christmas.  This is crazy!  I feel like there were a ton of other desserts that I wanted to experiment with and share with everyone, but time just got the best of me and they didn't end up happening.  At least I did manage to bake up a ton of cookies!  Day 3 of cookie week features one of my all time favorite cookies, the pignoli cookie. 

Pignoli cookies are classic Italian American cookies made with almond paste and sugar that then gets beaten with egg whites and honey, and topped off with pine nuts.  Essentially, they're little Italian macaroons.  The texture is somewhat similar to that of a macaron, because they're slightly crisp on the exterior, yet chewy on the inside.  Since pignoli cookies have a substantial amount of almond paste and pine nuts, two ingredients that can be on the more expensive side, they're seen as special, luxurious little treats that are popular around Christmas time.  I've only ever eaten pignoli cookies around this time of year, which makes them feel like even more of a treat.  

Eggnog Rice Pudding

Hello again!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday full of food, family, friends, and pie.  I'm still feeling a little stuffed from all the holiday celebrations, especially with the onset of the Christmas holidays. I've been contemplating all kinds of Christmas goods to bake, for myself, for my friends, and of course, for the blog.  Fortunately, these three groups tend to overlap, which makes my job a bit easier.  If not, I don't think I'd ever make a dent in my baking list, although this tends to be the case in real life regardless.  I've said before that I am usually too ambitious when it comes to planning what to bake over the holidays (in general, actually...), and create a baking wish list that is in no way possible to actually complete, no matter how hard I work at organizing my time.  The things that do end up being made, however, usually end up being some of my favorite treats, and I'm always happy for whatever reason I chose to give them some priority.  

I'm sure that with the first week of December practically behind us, and officially LESS than THREE WEEKS until Christmas, your baking plans are starting to take shape, if they haven't already been firmly decided upon. I've been busy thinking too, and am slowly but surely beginning to figure out some kind of loose, very rough plan of action.  I don't care if it's still in the rough stages, the fact that it exists is good enough for me!  I'm working on coming up with recipes that are great for giving and recipes that are simple and delicious for holiday parties.  Eggnog rice pudding was one of the first things I thought of for a holiday party.  Now, I'll be honest, this idea was a complete experiment because I wasn't exactly sure if this would be a recipe that I'd truly like.  You see, I'm not exactly a huge fan of eggnog.  I know, I'm weird.  First, I don't like pumpkin pie, and now, I don't like eggnog?! What kind of person am I?!

A weird one, I guess.  Oh well. 

Mimi's Arroz con Leche {Rice Pudding}

My grandma, Mimi, was a pretty awesome lady.  I'm sure everyone says that about their grandparents, but I really mean it when I say that my grandma was a special person.  She had this way of livening up any situation that was just fantastic.  I have a lot of really good memories of my grandma when I was little.  She would always come from Colombia to stay with us in New York from late spring through mid-fall.  My grandma wasn't particularly fond of cold weather, so as soon as Halloween was over, she'd go back to Colombia (my grandma was a huge fan of Halloween.  She loved packing up all the little trick-or-treat bags with candy almost as much as she loved eating the candy inside them).  During these several months that my grandma would stay with my family, she would play all sorts of games with us, tell us all her stories about when she was growing up, pick us up from school and walk us home, and she would always spend time planting lots and lots of geraniums in my backyard.  It was great!  I don't have too many memories of my grandma cooking or spending time in the kitchen though.  My mom and everyone else in my family have assured me that she was a great cook, but I guess that by the time I came around she was ready to take a break from the kitchen.  Despite this, though, there are four dishes that I will forever associate with my grandma: her arroz con verduras (a rice with vegetables, think of something along the lines of an arroz con pollo), her rice casserole, her tuna casserole (yes, tuna casserole can be amazing), and most of all, her arroz con leche.

Out of these four things, I definitely think that her arroz con verduras and arroz con leche were the best, and the most loved by my family.  You just couldn't have a birthday celebration without a giant pot of arroz con verduras cooking away in the kitchen!   I've been eating arroz con leche my entire life; my mom used to make my grandma's recipe a lot more often, but then we started trying to be healthy (apparently, rice and milk and cream and sugar is not the most figure-friendly combination you see, but I choose to ignore this fact) so we don't get to enjoy it as much anymore.  Whenever we do make it though, it instantly sends a smile across everyone's faces, especially my dad's; he loves arroz con leche!